Telekom Austria buys Swisscom Ventures’ cloud company

Telekom Austria is to offer cloud services via its A1 Digital subsidiary following the takeover of Swiss cloud provider Exoscale.

The company says Exoscale provides infrastructure and services for cloud applications in Europe and A1 Digital will be able to offer cloud-based services over this platform in future.

Telekom Austria set up A1 digital a year ago, when it recruited Elisabetta Castiglioni to lead the unit. She said about the new business: “For data-protection reasons, an increasing number of companies prefer domestic cloud providers. With the takeover of Exoscale, A1 Digital is strategically positioned as a strong regional player operating under EU law.”

Exoscale lists rival operator Swisscom – which was a shareholder until today’s announcement – as well as CERN and the financial technology start-up Bity among its customers. It operates data centres in Geneva, Zurich and elsewhere.

“We will open an Exoscale access point in Vienna this summer,” said Castiglioni. “A further location in Germany will follow. This marks a key step in the expansion of our portfolio.”

Exoscale co-founder and CEO Antoine Coetsier said: “We are delighted that Exoscale can now expand its current Swiss position and offer a genuine alternative to US-regulated solutions for the European market. A1 Digital also shares our vision to combine purely cloud-hosting solutions with value-added services.”

Telekom Austria Group bought Swisscom Ventures’ holding in Exoscale as part of the deal. Stefan Kuentz, investment director at Swisscom’s venture capital arm, said: “We have been very pleased by Exoscale’s market execution and customer growth since our investment in 2015. To support the company’s international expansion journey, we are glad to have found A1 Digital as the new majority owner and partner that has the reach to unlock multiple new markets.”

Castiglioni was CEO of the global media business of Siemens IT Solution & Services before joining A1 Digital. Earlier she was director of product marketing at MCI, now Verizon Business.

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